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How to save money on a rental car this spring break — and traps to avoid
For a number of spring breakers, a rental car is a necessity that can add hundreds of dollars to a vacation after paying for flights, accommodations and excursions.
While rental car prices have dropped from COVID-19 pandemic highs of hundreds of dollars per day in some locales — when supply-chain snarls followed by a sudden rebound in travel led to widespread vehicle shortages — they can still be expensive.
The daily rental car price for summer 2024 is averaging at $84, down about 10% from two years ago, according to data from Kayak.com. Currently, car rental prices for Easter weekend are even cheaper, down 19% compared to two years ago.
Here are ways to save money on a rental car, financial traps to avoid and how to determine if a rental car company is offering a good deal — or trying to take you for a ride.
Pay with a credit card
As is generally the case when making purchases, it’s wise to pay for your rental car with a credit card, as they typically have built-in protections — particularly when it comes to booking a car. For example, some credit cards offer primary and secondary car rental insurance to cardholders, meaning you don’t have to purchase insurance as an add-on at the rental counter.
A few credit cards, including the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Capital One Venture X and United Explorer cards come with what’s known as primary rental car insurance.
It’s still important to know exactly what kinds of damage is covered, and when, if you’re a vehicle owner, you could have to rely on your own policy.
“The downsides of secondary insurance is it usually doesn’t kick in until you’ve gone through your primary insurer,” Bankrate senior industry analyst Ted Rossman told CBS MoneyWatch. Additionally, even primary credit card insurance only covers damage to the vehicle that you’ve rented.
“It won’t cover potential damage to other cars or people, if someone in another car, or a pedestrian is injured,” Rossman added.
Do I need to buy insurance?
If you’re not a vehicle owner yourself and don’t have care insurance, it could provide peace of mind to purchase a policy from the rental company, according to Rossman.
“Credit card rental insurance can offer useful benefits, but you want to make sure you’re filling in gaps perhaps with personal car insurance company,” he added.
Take a short video of the vehicle
As far as damage goes, it’s also wise to take a short video of the car’s exterior before driving it off the lot, to document any existing scratches or dings, so you’re not liable upon returning it.
“I always take a one-minute video showing the top, bottom, left, right so you have a video in the rental company’s garage showing what it was like. Do same thing when you turn it back in,” Summer Hull, content director at travel site The Points Guy, told CBS MoneyWatch. “It saved me once,” said Hull, referring to a time when she was being pinned for damage on a rental. “I had to lean back on the video. It can really help you down the road,” she said.
Shop around, leverage memberships
There is a lot of variation in car rental prices from site to site, and company to company, which means it pays to shop around. Consumers can get some of the best rental car deals through memberships they may already have including Costco, AAA, and AARP cards.
Costco Travel, which is affiliated with the shopping club, typically has lower prices than one will find elsewhere.
“Only Costco members have access, but I’ve consistently found that their prices are 15%-20% cheaper,” said Scott Keyes of Going.com.
AAA an AARP offer discounts and promo codes on car rentals too.
Don’t rent at the airport
Stay away from picking up your rental at the airport, where rates are typically higher.
Most major car rental agencies have rental locations about five miles away from airports where you can find substantially cheaper prices, according to Keyes. “The convenience of renting at the airport often comes at a price,” he said.
Don’t prepay
It’s a good idea to lock in a rental as soon as you know your travel dates, but do not pay in advance: Not only can you be charged for a cancellation, but you can also miss out on better deals.
“When you don’t have to prepay, you have a lot of options to take advantage of price drops in the future,” Keyes said. “You never want to prepay, even if you’re offered a small discount. You give up ability to take advantage of future discounts. That’s the biggest thing folks can do to get the best price on car rentals.”
Gas it up on your own
It pays to make time to fill up your rental car’s gas tank before returning it to your agency of choice, as opposed to paying a fee for them to do it for you.
“The price you pay to fill the tank yourself is generally going to be cheaper than the price the rental company charges for the same amount of gas,” a Kayak spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch.
Hull recommends filling up your car’s tank far away from airports, where rates are cheaper. “Stations near airports charge jacked-up rates,” she said.
What’s the cheapest rental?
It may sound counterintuitive, but consider upgrading your vehicle for a good deal. It may not be bottom-of-the-barrel cheap, but there’s only a few dollars difference between average full-size car rentals and economy rentals, according to Kayak’s data. In other words, you can get more bang for your buck by upgrading.
In some locales, electric vehicle rentals are cheaper than gas car rentals, according to Hull. But note that if you choose an EV, you’ll need to make a plan to charge it, which can come at a cost.
The world’s oldest mummies have been around longer than the mummified pharaohs of Egypt and their ornate tombs — but the ravages of time, human development and climate change are putting these relics at risk.
Chile’s Atacama Desert was once home to the Chincorro people, an ancient population that began mummifying their dead 5,000 years ago, two millennia before the Egyptians did, according to Bernando Arriaza, a professor at the University of Tarapaca.
The arid desert has preserved mummified remains and other clues in the environment that give archaeologists information about how the Chincorro people once lived.
The idea to mummify bodies likely came from watching other remains naturally undergo the process amid the desert’s dry conditions. The mummified bodies were also decorated with reed blankets, clay masks, human hair and more, according to archaeologists.
While UNESCO has designated the region as a World Heritage Site, the declaration may not save all of the relics. Multiple museums, including the Miguel de Azapa Archaeological Museum in the ancient city of Arica, put the Chincorro culture on display. Some mummies and other relics are safely ensconced in those climate-controlled exhibits, but the remains still hidden in the arid desert remain at risk.
“If we have an increase in sea surface temperatures, for example, across the coast of northern Chile, that would increase atmospheric humidity,” said Claudio LaTorre, a paleo-ecologist with the Catholic University of Chile. “And that in turn would generate decomposition, (in) places where you don’t have decomposition today, and you would lose the mummies themselves.”
Other clues that archaeologists can find in the environment may also be lost.
“Human-induced climate change is one aspect that we’re really worried about, because it’ll change a number of different aspects that are forming the desert today,” said LaTorre.
Arriaza is working to raise awareness about the mummies, hoping that that will lead to even more preservation.
“It’s a big, big challenge because you need to have resources,” Arriaza said. “It’s everybody’s effort to a common goal, to preserve the site, to preserve the mummies.”
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NEW YORK – The man accused of killing three people when drove drunk into a crowd on the Lower East Side on July 4th was arraigned on a host of charges Saturday.
Daniel Hyden of Monmouth Junction, N.J. is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault, manslaughter, assault and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated charges. Hyden was driving with a suspended license, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Hyden, 44, drove a Ford F-150 pickup truck into the crowd at Corlears Hook Park just before 9 p.m. local time. He allegedly ran through a stop sign at the intersection of Water and Cherry Streets, drove up onto the sidewalk, slammed through the chain link fence, and into the crowd.
Eleven people were killed or injured, prosecutors said. The three people killed have been identified as Lucille Pinkney, 59, and her son Herman Pinkney, 38, and Ana Morel, 43. Another person was critically injured, and seven others hospitalized. The youngest victim was 11, according to prosecutors.
Responding police officers say they found Hyden on the ground next to the driver’s-side door, wearing pants but no shirt or shoes. He had bloodshot eyes, was stumbling and there was “a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath.”
“I hope we get justice”
Photos provided
On Friday, Family members of the victims returned to the scene, some breaking down in tears.
“I hope we get justice for my brother and my mother,” Diamond Pinkney said. “Herman, I love you. I’m going to do you proud.”
“We’re all devastated with this. It breaks my heart, and I’m so sad about it,” neighbor Nereida Garcia said.